


Burning For You

by Reis_Asher



Category: JUDGE EYES: 死神の遺言 | Judgment, 龍が如く | Ryuu ga Gotoku | Yakuza (Video Games)
Genre: Background Case, Banter, Canon-Typical Violence, Feeding, Fever Dreams, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Hand Jobs, Kissing, Love Confessions, Love Hotels, M/M, One Shot, Post-Canon, Sick Character, Sickfic, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 04:40:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20401816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reis_Asher/pseuds/Reis_Asher
Summary: Yagami gets sick, and it's up to Kaito to take care of him. Still haunted by the AD-9 case, Yagami is quite happy to be doted on for once, but the cases don't stop coming just because he's ill.Kaito tries to take on a stalker but gets himself in trouble. Yagami's desperately afraid he'll lose the man he loves and is determined to save him - even if that means staggering into a love hotel with a high fever to face several yakuza goons who think their boss's daughter is Kaito's girlfriend.





	Burning For You

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a bit of an apology for anyone who felt I did a bait-and-switch with Oil and Water going from the somewhat light first chapter to dark and horrifying with the second. This one's all fluff, and probably what you were hoping for from that fic. The most threatening it gets is that Kaito gets mildly hurt and Yagami has to save him, but this fic isn't about dark stuff. It's about banter and friendship and eventually some quick sexy-times. It's about love confessions and sickness and Kaito taking good care of Yagami. 
> 
> I hope this brings a little brightness into someone's day.

Yagami lay on his futon, pulling blankets up around his fully-clothed body. He was freezing cold, but sweat dripped from his brow. He had to be running a fever. Chasing down a cat in the pouring rain probably hadn't helped. The little critter had insisted on making Yagami earn every penny of the 50,000 yen he'd charged to find her. By the time he'd figured out he could use the drone to chase her down from the second-floor ledge, he'd been soaked to the bone.

Today he'd woken up feeling absolutely wretched. He sneezed, grumbling at how congested he felt. The sore throat didn't feel too great, either. He felt like he'd been hit by a car. Again.

The door to the office creaked open and slammed shut, the pane of glass rattling. Kaito had the spare key, so Yagami wasn't exactly alarmed.

"Hey. Kaito-san," Yagami groaned. "Bring me another blanket, would you?"

Kaito stood with his hands on his hips, overlooking the futon. "Ta-bo, you look awful. I told you not to drown out there looking for that damn cat." He reached on top of the closet and brought down a thick woolen blanket, spreading it over Yagami. He knelt by Yagami's head, placing a cool hand on his forehead. "You're burning up."

"Don't worry about it." Yagami tried to sit up, but Kaito eased him back down. "We still need to look into that missing persons case…"

"Nah, you're not goin' anywhere, Ta-bo. I'll handle the case. After I go to the convenience store and get you something to eat."

Yagami chuckled despite himself. Laughing made his head hurt, and he tried to stop—which only made it worse.

"What's so funny?" Kaito asked, shooting Yagami a hurt glance.

"Nothing…" Yagami said, but he couldn't wipe the grin off his face. "I'm used to bleeding in an alley after a fight with you. I'm not used to you being so… maternal."

"Take that back." Kaito folded his arms and put on his best tough-guy expression, but Yagami only laughed until he coughed. Kaito's eyes narrowed with concern. "You sure you don't want me to call the doctor?"

"It's just the flu." Yagami pulled the blankets more tightly around him, glad to bundle up in his cocoon. "Thanks, Kaito-san. For your concern. Honestly."

Kaito looked like he wanted to say something, but shook his head. "I'll be right back," he said, and then he was gone, closing the front door behind him.

***

Yagami woke to the sound of the office phone ringing. He reached out for it, but his arms felt like lead weights. The familiar sound of Kaito's voice echoed in the background as Kaito entered the office rustling two plastic bags and humming. He set the bags down and got the phone, scribbling down some details on a legal pad.

"A case?" Yagami asked.

"Maybe. Sounds like a classic stalker situation. The client wants to meet this evening. I'll take care of it." Kaito opened up the plastic bag and delicious smells wafted out of it. "I got miso soup and a pork tenkatsu bento for you." He pulled out a Staminian Royale and placed it on the coffee table. "That's for later, in case you need to be on your feet."

"Thanks." Kaito helped Yagami to a sitting position. Yagami took his bento box and snapped his chopsticks, but it was all he could do to eat a few bites.

"You've got to do better than that," Kaito chided. "At this rate you'll be sick for weeks." He pried the chopsticks from Yagami's fingers and picked up a piece of pork. He sat himself down on the futon next to where Yagami was propped up in a sitting position. "Open wide."

"You're going to feed me?" Yagami managed a wan smile. "I really must be on death's door." He didn't protest, opening his mouth for the pork. It really was easier like this, not having to lift each mouthful of food to his lips. Kaito started on the miso soup next, raising the hot container to Yagami's lips so he could drink it. Kaito tenderly wiped his face with a napkin afterwards to remove a little of the broth that had spilled over. Yagami closed his eyes, thinking it had been a long time since anyone had touched him outside of a fight. Kaito… Kaito had never put his hands on him like this. He could get used to it.

Yagami sighed. "I feel so weak… bet you could even beat me in a fight right now."

"Hey, I could beat you at full strength. I lost to you one time. One time to fifty is still good odds for me." Kaito's eyes twinkled.

Yagami barely caught the end of Kaito's sentence. He was so tired, and the miso soup was warm inside him, inviting him to sleep. He rested his head on Kaito's shoulder and closed his eyes, grateful for his friend's presence in his life.

***

Yagami was caught in a burning building. He recognized the former love hotel that housed Shono's lab, and wondered how he'd ended up here. Hadn't he been resting? Catching cats? Helping people find loved ones lost to Kamurocho's seedy underworld? He hadn't been involved in anything too serious since the AD-9 case, and he preferred it that way for now. He needed time to rest and recover, as did Kaito.

Kaito. He tried to move to find he was bound to the operating table. Kaito lay just feet away on the floor, the flames about to lick at his boots. Blood trickled from a bullet wound in his side.

"Kaito-san!" Yagami yelled. "Wake up, Kaito!" He took a deep breath—

—and woke up to his office. Kaito's hands seized his shoulders, pulling him back onto the futon.

"Hey! Hey. It's all right. I don't know what you were dreamin' about, but you were yelling my name pretty loud. Before that you were just drooling on my shirt." Kaito's concerned face came into focus, and Yagami had to fight the urge to bury himself in his embrace.

"Sorry," Yagami muttered, but he didn't know if he was apologizing for the dream, the drool, or both. "I still dream about the AD-9 case. You getting shot… Shono's lab…"

"You've been working too hard since then. Trying to stay busy, I'll wager. Am I right?" Kaito asked, his brown eyes warm and soft.

"Yeah. You're right." Yagami swallowed, his throat hoarse. "I keep re-living the moment you got shot. Dumb, huh? You survived. It's all right. But I keep thinking about what my life would be like if I lost you and—"

"You cheeseball," Kaito grinned. "Gonna take more than a bullet to stop me." He lifted his shirt, revealing the small scar where he'd been shot. "See, it's nothing." He grabbed Yagami's hand, resting it on his bare stomach. Yagami traced his finger over the small raised scar that had left an imperfection in otherwise perfect abs. "It's funny, I don't really remember the gunshot, or the pain. I just recall you screaming my name. Sugiura got you out of there, and I just remember bein' so happy that you cared enough about me to argue with him. You would have stayed if he hadn't dragged you to safety, and then we might not be sitting here now." Kaito chuckled. "The look on your face when you charged into that office to save me. Like you woulda torn down half of Tokyo to find me. I thought you were gonna kill Hamura."

"I thought about it." Yagami rested his head back down on Kaito's shoulder. "I got us into that mess. You shouldn't have taken that bullet. It should have been me."

"Well it wasn't, and I'm glad about it," Kaito said. "Look how whiny you're getting just from the flu. You would have been insufferable if you gotten shot."

"Mmm. Maybe you're right." Yagami closed his eyes and curled into Kaito's chest. Kaito was so warm, so safe, so alive. Somehow they'd survived the case and lived to see another day.

"Get some sleep, Ta-bo," Kaito soothed, and Yagami felt tender hands stroke his hair as sleep dragged him under for another round of dark dreams.

***

Yagami woke alone. At some point Kaito had left the futon, tucking the blankets around Yagami and leaving the legal pad on the coffee table. Of course, he'd gone to take care of the stalker case. A stab of fear jolted through Yagami's body. What if Kaito had stumbled into trouble? He looked at the clock, and was not comforted by the fact it was three in the morning. Kaito should have been back by now.

Yagami still felt like hell, but he was going to check in with Kaito regardless. He reached for his phone and dialed Kaito's number, but there was no answer. He left a couple of voicemail messages before giving up.

The legal pad's front page had been torn off. Yagami's throat burned, parched from his sore throat. He picked up the Staminian Royale and twisted off the cap, sipping at the energy drink while he searched for a pencil. He eventually found one in his desk drawer. He scribbled across the legal pad, revealing the indentations from Kaito's handwriting. The address was for a love hotel in the Hotel District. There was a name. Ai Sato.

He tried Kaito's phone again. No answer. His concern grew, coiling like a snake inside his intestines. His body ached and he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, but the idea that Kaito might be in trouble wouldn't leave his mind.

Sick or not, he was going after Kaito. He vaguely remembered blurting out too much in his feverish state, but there was so much more he'd left unsaid, too. How much Kaito truly meant to him was something he'd never be able to say out loud, but he could show his love by helping Kaito whenever he needed it. He'd turn over a lot more than Tokyo to protect him, if it came down to it.

***

Yagami took a taxi to the Hotel District. His jacket didn't keep away the chill, and he shivered as he found the love hotel and stepped inside the vestibule. He was in no fit state to even think clearly as he staggered up to the counter.

"Welcome, sir!" A cheerful woman bowed to Yagami and offered him a hot towel, which he took with thanks. He wiped the sweat off his face as he asked about Kaito and Sato.

"I'm afraid we can't give out personal information," the woman said, but her face told a different story. Like there was something she badly wanted to say but for some reason was holding back.

"I'm not here to expose anyone," Yagami said. "I'm worried about my friend, Kaito-san." He pulled out a cellphone and brought up a picture. Yagami stood smiling in the photo, Kaito's arm around his shoulder. "Please."

The lady lowered her tone as she spoke. "I shouldn't do this, but a group of men came in shortly after Kaito-san and Sato-san checked in." She glanced around. "I think they might have been yakuza. They didn't stop at the desk. They went directly to the elevator. It could just be that they have a private room rented out for meetings, but I'm not aware of any long-term bookings."

"What room are they in?"

"The Lily Suite. It's on the third floor. Make a right as you get off the elevator."

"Thank you." Yagami hurried to the elevator, jamming on the button for the doors to close. The energy drink was working to drive back some of Yagami's exhaustion, but he still felt sluggish and weak. If it came to a fight, he wasn't sure he'd win.

The elevator came to a stop and Yagami stepped out. He pressed himself flat against the wall as it went around the corner, looking down the corridor. A dour-faced man stood posted at the door to the Lily Suite, purple suit jacket and loud green shirt marking him out as a family man.

Yagami decided to approach. He figured out a plan as he strode forward, the pieces of it swimming in his addled mind as he struggled to grasp them.

"The fuck do you want? Get outta here."

"My boyfriend… I think he's cheating on me." Yagami knew he looked wretched enough to play the part of a boyfriend upset his partner was cheating on him. "With a girl. Ai-chan. My best friend." Yagami brought up the picture of him and Kaito hugging and shoved it in the man's face. "I wanna know if it's true."

"They ain't here. Get the fuck outta here," the man cursed, shoving Yagami backwards.

"I know I saw them come this way. This was our room. The Lily Suite. We'd come here every week and we'd—"

"I said shut up!" The yakuza pulled a knife, but Yagami had gotten close enough. He shoved his hand in the man's face, grabbing him and shoving him back against the doorframe. He went down like a sack of potatoes and Yagami burst through the door, more falling through it than knocking it down.

A young, well-dressed woman—presumably Ai Sato—sat in the corner, unharmed but red-faced from crying. Kaito knelt on the floor, hands tied behind his back. His face was covered in bruises and Yagami winced as a thug stepped forward and punched him again.

"You'll tell us right now what you were doing with the patriarch's daughter or we'll make sure you never lay eyes on a girl again…" The switchblade in the man's hand gleamed menacingly in the low light.

"I keep telling you, I hired him to find out who was stalking me!" Sato yelled. "I didn't know it was my father's men!"

"I keep tellin' you, it's a misunderstanding!" Kaito said. "What she's saying is true. I'm not interested in her!"

"Then why'd you come to a love hotel, huh?"

"Because it was the only place I could talk to a man without you watching me!" Sato yelled.

"Leave him alone." Yagami held himself up on the doorframe, sweat pouring from his brow. He was probably in for a beating, but so be it. "Kaito-san's not dating your patriarch's daughter."

"How do you know that?" The thug with the switchblade - who Yagami dubbed 'Switchblade Man' - glared at Yagami.

"He spent all day nursing me while I was sick. Taking care of me when he had other, more important things to do." Yagami was ready to drop to the floor and sleep for a thousand years. "He's always stood by me, even when it put his life in danger. Even though I can't offer him much of anything." Yagami slumped to his knees, the fight ebbing out of him. Maybe he was dying. There was a good chance he'd be waking up in the hospital, if he woke at all. "I think he's in love with me… and that's good, because I've been in love with him for a long time."

"Ta-bo!" Kaito's eyes widened. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Saying what needs to be said," Yagami muttered. "Put it down to the fever, but I realized how much I need you in my life." He crawled over to where Kaito knelt and untied the ropes binding him as the yakuza looked on in abject confusion.

Kaito looked embarrassed but finally shrugged as he looked up at Switchblade Man. "Well, I guess that cat's out of the bag. Sorry to disappoint you. I know you were looking to give me a good beating, but I'm already seeing someone, and it's not Sato-san, as you can see."

"Well, fuck." Switchblade Man broke out laughing, and his goons followed suit. "Guess you won't mind if we take the little princess back to Daddy, huh?"

"I'll go," Sato said. She wiped her eyes and stood up, defiance in her eyes. "I have a few things to say to him." She bowed to Kaito. "Sorry for getting you mixed up in a family matter. I'll send you the money." She shooed the yakuza out of the room and they hurried to obey. She turned to look at Kaito and Yagami before leaving. "You two make a cute couple!" The door shut behind her.

"Kaito-san…" Yagami sighed, reaching out for Kaito. "I feel like death warmed up."

"Let's get you up on the bed." Kaito's hands slipped underneath Yagami, and he felt himself being lifted up and carried. Kaito set him down gently. "Fuck, your fever's worse than before. Get some rest. This room's pay by the hour. I'll go get you some medicine."

"No," Yagami murmured. "Stay with me, Kaito-san. Stay with me…" Sleep clawed at him. There was so much he wanted to say, but his body won, and he fell back asleep.

***

He woke to find Kaito spooning with him, his body wrapped around Yagami's fully-clothed one, head resting on top of his. Yagami felt much better, and he touched his brow before realizing his fever had broken.

Kaito stirred and pulled himself away, sitting up against the headboard of the huge, round lily-pad waterbed. "Welcome back to the land of the living. You look a lot better."

"We're in a love hotel." Yagami looked around him at the blue carpet. Frog ornaments were displayed on every shelf around the room. Not exactly what he would have called romantic, but it was a room in a love hotel, all right.

"Just how much do you remember about last night, Ta-bo?" Kaito asked. "You came charging in here pretty amped up for a half-dead man. Gotta give you some credit for the save."

"Even if I made five seasoned yakuza throw up with my saccharine love declaration?" Yagami lay back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling with a grin on his face. A speaker played low watery sounds in the background. It was quite soothing.

"I dunno, I think they might have been jealous." Kaito managed a wan smile. "It was a good cover, if a weird one. Guess it got you out of fighting, so it's all good. You were in no fit state."

"It wasn't just a cover story." Yagami closed his eyes and was sure he could make out frog mating calls beneath the sound of water flowing. This room probably made a very specific audience very happy. "It was the truth. I'm right, aren't I? You are in love with me."

"If being in love means I want to take care of you, be your life partner, and do extremely filthy things to your body then yeah, I guess I am. You know, this place charges by the hour, and I feel like it would be an awful waste to leave here without at least trying out this waterbed. I mean, not to rush things here, but…"

"You make a compelling argument. The defense rests," Yagami said with a grin, pulling Kaito down to lay flat on the bed. He climbed on top of him, pressing his lips to Kaito's. Kaito countered, turning it into a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss which Yagami was all too happy to enjoy, thrusting his tongue against Kaito's like they were locked in a fight.

"Damn, you are feeling better," Kaito commented. He thrust his hips up against Yagami and Yagami gasped, grinding his hard, clothed erection into Kaito's as both men moaned.

"Too many clothes," Yagami hissed, working on Kaito's shirt buttons. The silk shirt landed on the floor along with his jacket and white tee.

"I feel like we're gonna have a fight," Kaito said. He fumbled with Yagami's jeans, pulling them halfway down.

"A naked fight." Yagami helped Kaito slip out of his slacks and underwear, biting his lip to control his hunger as he saw Kaito's erection for the first time. Kaito gripped them together in one big hand, jerking their dicks off together as Yagami arched his back. He wanted to do so much more, but his body still ached a little from illness, so this would have to do for now.

Not that the friction of Kaito's dick against his wasn't sublime. He'd longed for this kind of closeness for years, wondering if similar thoughts had ever crossed Kaito's mind. Judging by his enthusiasm, they clearly had.

He thrust up into Kaito's fist, knowing he wasn't going to last much longer. With a sharp cry, he spilled all over Kaito's hand and dick, his body spasming as he blew his load. Kaito followed right behind him, splashing Yagami's chest with his semen as he cried out his name.

They collapsed into a heap, sated. Yagami lay his head on Kaito's chest, listening to his heartbeat slowly come down. Feelings swelled inside him and he closed his eyes, not wanting to ruin the moment with words.

Kaito fiddled with a remote and the lily pad bed started to rotate. "Oh, so that's what that button does." He started to laugh and Yagami joined him, the absurdity of the whole situation coupled with afterglow leaving him giddy and light.

"Just give me one more hour…" Yagami said. 

"You wouldn't say that if you knew how much it cost to rent this room," Kaito replied. "C'mon, Ta-bo. You can sleep back at the office."

"The futon won't fit the both of us."

"We'll make it." Kaito grinned, throwing Yagami's jeans at him. "One of us will just have to be on top."

"I'll hold you to that." Yagami smirked, feeling more optimistic about the future than he had in a long time. He was scared he'd wake up to find it was all just another dream, but as they strode through the streets of Kamurocho side by side, Yagami realized Kaito wasn't going anywhere.


End file.
